Propeller-shaft support.



No. 669,804. Patented Mar. I2, l9l. C. A.' PARSONS &. A. D. WASS.

PBOPELLEB SHAFT SUPPRT.

(Appmation meu ngc. 22. 1900.) (No Model.; 4 Sheets-Skaai I.

No. 669,804. Patented Mar. l2, |90l.

C. A. PARSONS & A. D. WASS.

`PROPELLER SHAFT SUPPDRT.

(Application led Dec. 22, 1900.. (No Modei.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Eig. 4.

No. 569,304'1 Patented Manu, |901.

c. A. PAnsoNs a A. ln. wAss. PnoPELLER SHAFT suPPnm.

(Application `meal me.l 22, .1900.)- (No Model.)- Y

IINTTED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

CHARLES ALGERNON PARSONS AND ARCHIBALD DOUGLAS VVASS, OF NEW-CASTLE-UPON-TYNE, ENGLAND.

PROPELLER-SHAFT SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 669,804, dated March12, 1901.

Application filed December 22, 1900. Serial No. 40.771. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern: ing four propeller-shafts. Figs. 6 and 7 areBe it known that we, CHARLES ALGERNON respectively elevation and plan ofthree pro- PARSONS and ARCHIBALD DOUGLAS WASS, peller -shafts, showingan arrangement of subjects of the Queen of Great Britain and bracketsand propellers embodying the con- 5 Ireland, and residents ofHeatonWorks, Newstructions illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3. Figs. 8castle-upon-Tyne, in the county of Northumand 9 are side elevations oftwo brackets for berland, England, have invented certain new supportingthe propeller-shafting where the and useful Improvements inPropeller-Shaft ordinary lines of a fast vessel have to be ad- Supports,(for which we have made applicahered to. Fig. lO is a plan of a portionof a 6o Io tion for patent in Great Britain, No. 9,462, fast vessel withordinary lines, looking from and bearing date May 22, 1900,) of whichthe the bottom in the direction of the arrows in following is aspecication. Figs. 8 and 9, showing the ends of the two Our inventionrelates to the forming and starboard propeller-shafts and the bracketsattaching of struts or brackets for the supfor supporting them.

i5 port of propeller-shafting in vessels using Referring to Figs. 1, 2,3, and G, which illustwo or more propeller-shafts; and it is spetratethe first part of our invention, a is a cially applicable in vessels ofthe torpedo strut or bracket provided with a palm or sole boat ordestroyer class where two or more b, the upper face c of which iscarefully mapropellers are placed on each shaft. chined and suitablyarranged for being se- 7o 2o The objects of our invention are, first, tocured by bolts or other means directly to inreduce the resist-ance ofthe propeller-shaft ternal sole-plates d, permanently attached to strutsor brackets, and, second,to render them the framing and plates f of thevessel,so that easily removable for change of the propellers, thesestruts a and the propellers which they while insuring their accuratereplacement support may be easily removed and replaced. 25 and fixingwithout need for skilled labor in The internal sole-platescl weform,preferably, lining up and setting. of cast-steel with truly-planedsurfaces or The rst part of our invention consists in machined socketsfor the reception of the the formation of the struts or brackets withstrut or bracket sole b. The plating f of the special palms or soles, bymeans of which vessel is cut away to allow these machined 8o 3o they canbe rapidly `secured or centered on bracket-soles b to be fitted againstthe maspecial sole-plates permanently attached inchined surfaces of theinternal sole-plates d. ternally to the framing and plates of the Thisattachment of the propeller-shaft struts vessel. or brackets direct toan internal sole-plate en- The second part of our invention consistsables the brackets to be readily removed and 35 in a special form ofcompound bracket or also readily and accurately replaced pracstrut forthe support ofthe mult-iple shafts, tically without skilled labor orspecial prewith one or more propellers on each shaft, cautions. It alsoenables the brackets to be such that a suitable reduction in theresistmarked off when in place in the vessel and ance offered by thesestruts to the propulsion removed and machined in the shop, thus 9o 4o ofthe vessel is effected. avoiding the usual slow and expensive prac- Thethird part of our invention consists in tice of boring them out in placeon the ship.

l a special form of supporting-bracket, which rear portion of thegear-frame a suitable diswe nd it advantageous to apply to vessels tanceabove said axle for the introduction of where the ordinary lines of afast vessel have If the struts a are formed of aluminium- 45 to beadhered to. bronze, manganese-bronze, or gun-metal, we

In the accompanying four sheets of `drawprovide a suitable space aroundtheir juncings, Figures 1, 2, and 3 are sectional elevations with thesole-plates for the reception of tions of brackets for supporting,respectively, the usual Zinc liner or ring h to prevent corroone, two,and three propeller-shafts, showing sion. roo

5o their soles and internal sole-plates. Figs. 4 The second part of ourinvention is illusand 5 are elevations of brackets for supporttrated byFigs. 1 to 7 inclusive, and in carrysole b for attachment to the vessel.

ing it into effect we place the propellers abreast of each other, Fig.7, so as to allo-w of a simplification ot' the supporting-struts and areduction of their resistance to propulsion through the water. Thestruts we make lthen ofapeculiarbranching and interlocking form tosecure rigidity and strength, with a minimum of edge and surfaceresistance.

Fig. 2 illustrates brackets for a two-shaft vessel. They take asymmetrical threebranch-star form in end elevation of the vessel. Theupper branch d carries the palm or The two lower branches ft' and lccarry bosses or journals m m, adapted to support the propellershafts.The branches of this star-shaped bracket should have a very iiatelliptical section, (see section d, Fig. 7,) and the line joining theiredges or their longer axes should lie in the direction of motion. Thisform of bracket replaces two of the A-brackets usually employed andoffers much less edge and surface resistance than such brackets.

Where three propeller-shafts are used, we make the supporting struts orbrackets of a double star o and n, as illustrated in Fig. 3. In thiscase each part of the bracket is similar to the bracket above described;but the adjoining arms p and q unite in a common boss or bearing r,which supports .the propeller-shaft. The end of the centralpropeller-shaft, which shaft is generally made longer than the two sideones, as seen in Figs. 6 and 7, is supported by a singlestraightbracket, Fig.l,carryingasuitablebearingfor theshaft.

Where four propeller-shafts have to be supported, we provide twostar-shaped brackets s and 25,'siinilar to those described forsupporting twopropeller-shafts; but weconnect their inner bosses u and oby a cross member Fig. 4, of the same section as the arms of thebracket. This cross member gives additional stiffness to the structure.

As a modification of the arrangement last described instead of the crossmember .fr we may provide a third star-shaped bracket z, Fig. 5, havingits lower ends l and 2 formed with or attached to the bearings u and vfor the two center shafts. This compound bracket is thus formed of threestars s, z, and t, having three arms each, the upper arms t of each setbeing attached to the vessel preferably by the means described above.The bearings for these brackets we construct in the usual manner withbushes fitted with lignum-vitae strips or with white metal.

The hereinbefore-described brackets are especially intended for fastvessels, the under bodies of which are flattened in form and inclinedupward toward the stern. When the ordinary lines of a fast vessel haveto be adhered to, we use four propeller-shafts, which are arrangedpractically at the same level on the vessel. In such a vessel theoutermost propeller-shaft 3, Fig. l0, which shows the ends of twopropeller-shafts and their shields, will generally be shorter, as itemerges from the side of the vessel at a point nearer the bow of thevessel. Where the two shafts 3 and 4 have to'be supported together fromthe side of the vessel, especially at the outer end bearing of theoutside shaft, we provide a special compound bracket. having fourmembers. Fig. 9 illustrates one form of this bracket. A member 5 isfastened to the side of the vessel at one end 6 and passes out at rightangles to the ships platingf to the outer shaft 3, where it is providedwith a bearing 7 for supporting the said shaft. The second member 8joins this outermost bearing 7 to a corresponding bearing or boss 9,carrying the inner shaft 4. United to this bearing 9 is a supportcomposed of two limbs 1l and l2, which lie parallel to each other andpractically at right angles to the s'hips plating, to which they aresecured by means of a common sole 13. The attachment of the bracket tothe ships plating is effected in a similar manner to all the forms ofbracket described above.

For supporting the end of the inner propeller-shaft 4 we employ the formof bracket illustrated in Fig. 8, consist-ing of two limbs uniting attheir outer extremities in a bearing for the shaft and provided at theirinner extremities with soles for attachment to sole-plates fixed to theships plating, as in the modifications already described.

Having now described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A detachable fastening for propellershaft-supporting bracketsconsisting of soles formed upon said brackets in combination withsole-plates permanently secured to the plating of the ship,substantially as described.

2. Propeller shaft supports consisting of three-membered star-shapedbrackets, having soles upon the upper vertical member or members fordetachably securing said brackets to sole-plates permanently fastened tothe plating of the ship, thelower members carrying the bearings for thepropeller-shafts, substantially as described.

3. Propeller-shaft supports consisting of three-membered star-shapedbrackets formed of dat elliptical section and having soles upon theupper vertical member or members for detachably securing said bracketsto plates permanently fastened to the plating of the ship, the lowermembers carrying the bearings for the propeller-shafts, substantially asdescribed.

4. Supports for multiple propeller-shafts, composed of threememberedstarshaped brackets, soles upon the upper vertical members for securingsaid brackets to sole-plates permanently fastened to the ships plating,the outer and intermediate lower members carrying bearings for thepropeller-shafts; horizontal members uniting adjacent lower members,substantially as described.

5. A propeller-shaft support consisting of an A-shaped bracket themembers of which IOO IIO

ties formed with bearings for the propellershafts said bearingsconnected by a cross member substantially as described.

In Witness whereof` We have hereunto set I5 our hands in presence of twoWitnesses.

CHARLES ALGERNON PARSONS. ARCHIBALD DOUGLAS WASS.

Witnesses:

W. H. PILMOUR: WILLIAM DAGGETT.

